Mobile phones sold by O2 will not automatically come with chargers from 2015,
the company has said.

In a trial conducted last year, consumers were given the option to use their existing phone charger rather than get one with a new HTC phone. In what the companies called the “first ever trial of charger-free phones” 82 per cent of consumers “took the greener option”.

The mobile network confirmed that the results pave the way for it to sell all phones charger free by 2015, as it outlined in its environmental impact plans in 2012.

It is estimated that there are currently 100 million unused chargers across the UK, and all major mobile phones, with the exception of Apple, now use the same micro-USB charging connector because of European-led industry initiatives. Chargers themselves offer a standard USB jack which is compatible with all charging cables, including Apple versions.

The wasted chargers are taking up the equivalent volume of four Olympic swimming pools in consumers' drawers and lofts.

The “Charger out of the Box” pilot was launched in October using the HTC One X+ handset. The 82 per cent uptake exceeded O2’s target of 70 per cent.

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Customers who did want a charger with their new handset were offered one at cost price.

Approximately 30 million new phones are sold in the UK each year. If the results of the trial were reflected nationally that would be cut to just 6million.

Ronan Dunne, chief executive of O2, said “The results of the trial demonstrate a clear willingness among consumers to consider and respond to the environmental argument for taking a phone charger-free. I now hope that as a result of this study the rest of the industry will now consider joining us in our campaign to take chargers out of the box for good.”

Phil Roberson, Regional Director of the UK at HTC, said “This pilot demonstrates that, if we inform our customers about the environmental impact of wasted phone chargers and the benefits of using the chargers and mains adapters that they already own, they respond positively to the message.”